1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a portable information processing apparatus which prevents damage to an image pickup section.
2. Description of the Related Art
An assignee of the present patent application proposed an apparatus wherein a video camera of a small size is mounted at an upper end portion of a display panel section of a portable personal computer on which a liquid crystal display unit is mounted, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51665/1998. FIGS. 15 to 17 show the apparatus disclosed in the document.
Referring first to FIG. 15, a personal computer 161 includes a body section 162 in the form of a housing having a rectangular configuration of a small thickness, and a display panel section 165 formed from a housing of a size substantially equal to that of the body section 162 and mounted for pivotal opening and closing movement on the body section 162 for displaying graphics, characters and so forth thereon. When the personal computer 161 is used, the display panel section 165 is pivoted upwardly into an open condition from the body section 162 as seen in FIG. 15, but when the personal computer 161 is not used, the display panel section 165 is pivoted downward into a closed condition on the body section 162.
The body section 162 has manually operable elements provided thereon which are manually operated by a user such as a keyboard 163 and a track pad 164. Data are inputted to or outputted from the personal computer 161 by operation of the keyboard 163 and/or the track pad 164. The body section 162 further has a circuit board (not shown) incorporated therein. The circuit board has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) and other required elements (all not shown) mounted thereon.
The display panel section 165 has a liquid crystal display unit 166 provided thereon for displaying graphics, characters and so forth. The display panel section 165 further has a mounting groove 167 formed at a central position thereof above the liquid crystal display unit 166 in FIG. 15, and a CCD video camera 169 is mounted for sliding movement in the mounting groove 167.
The mounting groove 167 has a recessed structure formed by partly removing the material of the display panel section 165 at the upper central position into a substantially U-shape. The CCD video camera 169 is supported by a support member 168 provided in the mounting groove 167. An image formed on the CCDs (not shown) in the CCD video camera 169 is fetched into the personal computer 161 over a cable not shown.
FIG. 16 particularly shows the CCD video camera 169. Referring to FIG. 16, the support member 168 secured to the display panel section 165 has a cup-shaped supporting curved face 168b having a curvature same as that of a turning sphere 175 of the CCD video camera 169. The support member 168 holds the turning sphere 175 with the supporting curved face 168b thereof to support the turning sphere 175 for turning motion.
The CCD video camera 169 includes a camera body section 171 formed in a substantially spherical profile, a lens section 172 extending tubularly from the camera body section 171, a turning shaft 174 connected to a portion of the camera body section 171, and the turning sphere 175 formed from a sphere connected to the other end of the turning shaft 174. A cable 173 extends from the camera body section 171 and is connected to a suitable internal member of the personal computer 161. The camera body section 171 can be slidably moved around the center of the turning sphere 175 so that it can pick up an image over a predetermined range through the lens section 172 thereof.
Since the CCD video camera 169 includes the turning shaft 174 of a predetermined length in this manner, if a force is applied to the camera body section 171 to vary the direction of the camera body section 171, then a pivoting force is imparted through the turning shaft 174 to the turning sphere 175. In other words, the direction of the camera body section 171 can be varied around the center of the turning sphere 175 to suitably vary the image pickup range of the CCD video camera 169. When no pivoting force is applied, the turning sphere 175 is not turned in the support member 168 and fixedly supports the camera body section 171 thereby to maintain the image pickup direction of the camera body section 171.
A modified personal computer is shown in FIG. 17. Referring to FIG. 17, in the modified personal computer also denoted at 161, a hole 170 is formed in the front wall of the display panel section 165, and the CCD video camera 169 is mounted in the hole 170.
However, where the personal computer 161 is constructed in such a manner as shown in FIG. 15 wherein the mounting groove 167 is formed in the display panel section 165 and the CCD video camera 169 is mounted in the mounting groove 167 using the support member 168, since the CCD video camera 169 can be turned to a position in which it projects from the display panel section 165, there is a possibility that the user may inadvertently bring the CCD video camera 169 into contact with some other obstacle, resulting in damage to the CCD video camera 169.
On the other hand, where the personal computer 161 is constructed in such a manner as shown in FIG. 17 wherein the CCD video camera 169 is fitted in the hole 170 formed in the front wall of the display section of the display panel section 165, the possibility that the CCD video camera 169 may collide with and be damaged by an external obstacle decreases. However, there is a possibility that, when the display panel section 165 is pivoted into a closed condition onto the body section 162, the CCD video camera 169 may collide with and be damaged by the body section 162. This possibility increases particularly where the CCD video camera 169 is constructed for manual focusing adjustment. Further, where the CCD video camera 169 is fitted in the hole 170 formed in the front wall of the display panel section 165, the range within which the CCD video camera 169 can pick up an image is limited to the front of the portable personal computer 161. Consequently, the portable personal computer 161 has a subject to be solved in that the CCD video camera 169 cannot fetch an image from above or from the rear of the portable personal computer 161.